High praise for Worcester's Paul Reville, outgoing education chief

Friday

Dec 14, 2012 at 6:00 AMDec 14, 2012 at 6:28 PM

By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

State Education Secretary Paul Reville, whom the governor said was known as “the father of Massachusetts education reform” even before he became the state’s top education official in 2008, plans to return to the faculty at Harvard University when he leaves the governor’s Cabinet in January.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick noted Mr. Reville’s work and accomplishments for students across the state yesterday as he announced that Mr. Reville was one of four Cabinet members who decided not to stay on for the final two years of the governor’s term.

Mr. Reville, who lives in Worcester, became the state’s first secretary of education when he accepted the post which was elevated to a Cabinet level position under Mr. Patrick.

“Under his stewardship, with the Achievement Gap Act, we achieved the most comprehensive education reform in Massachusetts in almost 20 years,” the governor said at a press conference announcing Cabinet replacements yesterday.

The governor noted that community colleges are now playing “a deeper and more systematic role in helping people get ready for the jobs there are today,” with changes implemented by Mr. Reville.

“He’s been a tireless advocate for teachers, school administrators and for educational innovators of every stripe and kind, but above all for the children,” Mr. Patrick said.

Mr. Reville said he has loved the job.

“I have mixed feelings. I hate to leave because I love the work. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity and I’m sad to leave at the same time, but I’m looking forward to my next job,” he said.

“I’m going to go back over to Harvard and teach there and work on a few projects that are of interest to me and continue to pursue this work as I have always anyway from outside of government,” he said.

Mr. Reville said he feels the state has made progress toward closing the education gap for lower income and minority students, which has long been the focus of his work. But he added there is still a long way to go.

He said he is leaving a number of initiatives at work in the field that he developed, including programs focused on third-grade literacy and a new effort to ramp up early childhood education.

He said that progress was reflected earlier this week in results of student performance on international tests for math and science. “We still lead the nation in virtually every category in student achievement,” Mr. Reville said.

“We got the two big race-to-the-top grants. We got the achievement gap grant and we have 44 new innovation schools,” Mr. Reville said of successes in getting special federal funds for the state’s schools.

Mr. Reville said he got strong support from the governor who has put a priority on education improvements. “He believes as I have always believed that the key to the future in this state in particular is an investment in education,” Mr. Reville said.

Some initiatives that were developed were put on hold when state revenue plummeted following the 2008 global financial crisis, he said.

“We had a readiness project which was a major agenda and no sooner had we published it then suddenly we had the worst fiscal crisis,” he recalled. “Notwithstanding that, we have continued to perform at high levels,” he said, mentioning expanded student financial aid and the more recent workforce training reforms at the state’s community colleges.